Easy Chimichurri Shrimp Tacos

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Ever since we have been sheltering in place, I have found that keeping a big bag of jumbo “e-z peel” shrimp in the freezer has been super useful. They are quick to defrost and cook, and they feel pretty luxurious when they are a nice large size.

This taco recipe that I developed for my friends at Nomtastic Foods is summery, fresh, and pretty dang easy to put together. While the shrimp make it super satisfying, the star is the chimichurri—a raw Argentinian condiment that is typically served with steak but really goes great with everything.

CLICK HERE to get the recipe!

Recipe: Chicken Satay

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Satay is a common street food in Malaysia, where my parents are from. Any sort of meat can be cut into small pieces and grilled on a skewer to be satay and it is fun (for me at least) to taste all the offal-ly bits. Vendors repeatedly fan the charcoal grill and flip handfuls of skewers back and forth for that signature char. I have fond memories during visits with my relatives where we would go to bigger satay joints and they would bring piles of satay to our table and we would feast on them stick by stick. Back when I was a kid those places used to bill by a somewhat honor system of counting the number of empty sticks we had at the end…and boy, did we have a lot.

Satay made of marinated chicken thighs is the easiest for me to recreate on my grill at home. Chicken thighs stay relatively moist when grilled and cook quickly. I developed this recipe from my memories of what it should taste like so I am not sure if it is the most authentic, but it does taste right to me!

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How to Make Chicken Satay

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken thighs, in 3/4–1” cubes
1 tbsp ginger, grated
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp neutral oil, plus extra for grill
peanut butter, to taste
hoisin sauce, to taste

For Serving

cucumber, cut into small chunks
red onion, cut into small chunks
cilantro
peanuts, chopped

Procedure

The night before, place 12 bamboo skewers in water and let soak overnight. This will help prevent them from burning to a crisp on the grill.

Also the night before, whisk together grated ginger, brown sugar, fish sauce, cumin, turmeric, coconut milk, and oil to make the satay marinade. Combine with chicken cubes and coat the chicken thoroughly. Cover/seal and store in refrigerator to marinade overnight.

Spear chicken onto the skewers and leave covered in the refrigerator until ready to grill. (If making ahead, wrap exposed bamboo with a damp paper towel to prevent from drying out.)

Pour the leftover marinade into a small sauce pan and bring to a full simmer. Whisk in hoisin sauce and peanut butter to taste. Set aside until ready for serving.

A charcoal grill is recommended to get that smoky grilled satay flavor. When grill is ready, brush the grill rack with a bit of extra oil. Add chicken skewers to the grill, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked through. As the pieces of chicken are small, these will cook fairly quickly, so be sure to monitor.

Transfer peanut sauce to a serving dish and top with chopped peanuts. Serve satay with cucumbers, onion, cilantro, and peanut sauce.

This recipe was originally written for my friends at Nomtastic Foods.

Make Gimbap with Your Veggie Scraps

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Gimbap (sometimes spelled kimbap) are Korean rice rolls, usually filled with a combination of fresh and sautéed veggies, and sometimes with egg or marinated meat. They are also a great way to use up random veggie scraps that you might have left over in your fridge from other meals. At a time when we are trying to make the most of the fresh produce we have at home, gimbap is a great way to avoid those miscellaneous veggie odds and ends from going to waste. All you need to do it cut everything in long, thin pieces so they are easy to roll up into your gimbap. CLICK HERE to grab a more detailed recipe that I wrote for my friends at Nomtastic Foods!

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Recipe: Slow Cooker Short Rib Pho

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Huge disclaimer: This is not a traditional/authentic or proper pho recipe in any way. I am very much a home cook, and this recipe is my practical solution for making a comforting noodle soup with all the pho flavors at home, without a lot of active maintenance. Things I associate with making a proper pho include: using a variety of beef bones for a rich complex flavor, using all whole spices, and skimming the scum and impurities off the top of the broth for several hours to produce a completely clear broth. This recipe does not involve any of these things! You could choose to run the entire broth through a fine sieve before serving, but I do not do this since I am not looking to impress anyone at home.

The key to compensating for the lack of effort in this recipe is using a good store-bought bone broth—this basically becomes the stand-in for buying, cleaning, roasting, and boiling all those aforementioned beef bones. For Bay Area folks, I recommend the one found in the frozen section at Berkeley Bowl, that seems to be made in-house. I’ve also tried Bonafide Provisions beef bone broth and that worked well too. You are looking for something that is heavy in natural collagen from the bones and doesn’t have other added flavorings; it’s usually kept frozen and something that is sold as shelf stable is not gonna cut it in terms of richness. You want a broth that sticks to the noodles.

Now let’s talk about fresh garnishes. In that first photo, you’ll see mint, red veined sorrel, and rau răm (Vietnamese coriander?) that I grew in my backyard. These are probably not authentic pho garnishes either! From what I understand, different regions in Vietnam tend to serve different herbs depending on what grows prevalently. At restaurants near me, I see Thai basil served with pho. I like to think I am keeping to the spirit of using regional produce by using what is growing in my garden. But again, I am not making any claims of being any sort of authority on the matter here. If making this in the winter when my garden is looking lackluster, I use Thai basil and cilantro from the store.

Although it does take (inactive) time, I think of this as a cheater shortcut pho recipe that will fill your house with the smell of pho and fill your belly with beefy joy—even though it’s a little on the scrappy unrefined side.

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How to Make Shortcut Slow Cooker Short Rib Pho

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients for Broth

4–6 short ribs (about 2.5 lbs), cut into separate rib pieces
five spice powder
salt
pepper
1 sweet onion, quartered
2–4 tbsp fish sauce
32 oz high-quality beef bone broth, defrosted
several cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
several ginger slices
2 tbsp brown sugar
8–10 star anise
neutral cooking oil
water

Ingredients for Pho Assembly

1 package (14 oz) dry flat rice noodles
1 shallot or 1/8 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Optional Garnishes for Serving

1 lime, cut into wedges
1 fresh jalapeño or serrano chili pepper, sliced
1–2 scallions, thinly sliced
fresh herbs, such as Thai basil, extra cilantro
sriracha and hoisin sauce, for dipping

Procedure

Generously (very generously!) rub salt, pepper, and five spice onto the rib pieces and heat up a large pan on the stove on high. Once hot, turn down to medium-high and add a splash of oil, then the beef short ribs and sweet onion. Seer all sides of the short ribs and onions, adding the garlic and ginger halfway through the process. After ribs are seared and aromatics are charred, dump everything into the slow cooker.

Turn the heat down to low and add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Add all the pan bits to the slow cooker along with the star anise and brown sugar. Add the bone broth plus about 32 oz of water

Set the slow cooker to high and cook for 4 hours.

In the meantime, prep the fresh ingredients.

Cook pho noodles according to the instructions on the package, or until they are just barely al dente. The hot broth will soften them even further.

Carefully remove the short ribs from the broth. If desired, remove the meat from the bone and slice (or, serve the bowls with meat attached to the bones). At this point, taste the broth for seasoning and add more fish sauce if desired.

To assemble, place cooked noodles in a bowl. Ladle the hot broth on top, add the short rib, and garnish with the thinly sliced onion and cilantro. Serve everything else on the side along with some Sriracha and hoisin sauce.

This recipe was originally written for my friends at Nomtastic Foods.